How To Teach Social Skills And Develop Self-Confidence In Your Shy Child?

When you and your child go to super market, suddenly you will see your neighbor is also shopping there.

When your neighbor simply greets your child, your child may feel shy and will not answer to the neighbor’s greeting.

You will be surprised with your child’s behavior.

You are not alone. Many parents are confused with this type of behavior.

Some children will be with very much curiosity while some others will be shy. Both the behaviors are common.

Having a shy child is not a problem, but it becomes a problem when your shy child prevents to make friends, participate in social activities such as going to library and birth day parties and communicate with others.

You have to teach social skills and explain about various social situations to reduce shyness in your child and develop self confidence.

Realistic goals and expectations! Keeping in mind about your child’s developmental stage, you should have realistic expectations and goals about your child.

If you force your child to play with friends, it will create more fear about future events. Do not expect the changes to occur over night as your child can overcome shyness as they develop and interact with others.

Accept your shy child! Children are born with different mentalities, some may be friendly and some may be shy. Instead of saying your shy child that you are wrong because he is not up to the expectations, accept him as part of his unique temperament.

Be a role model! Take your shy child with you to give the opportunity to watch and observe how you are interacting with others in social situations. You can also tell your child that if someone asks “how are you”?, give reply as “fine”.

Provide a free environment! When your child feels that he can make mistakes without being blamed or shamed, he can give up his shyness. If your child does not give reply also, you should not scold him in front of others.

Practicing how to interact! If your shy child wants help from you, you can help him practice how to give response to others. Practice several times each day so that he can get confidence. You can also provide the situations to participate in conversations with friends and family members.

Don’t punish! You may be embarrassed with your shy child, but you should not humiliate or punish him as it will further discourage to become socially confident. You should not tell others that he is shy and he can’t talk to others.

Don’t request or beg! You should not request or beg your shy child to answer the question if someone asks him something. This will make your child refuse to answer in the future.

Seek help from professional! If your shy child is away to participate in social activities and if his life is becoming miserable with shyness, you have to take the help of a qualified professional to help your child out.